visibility does drop as it's happening but right now it does not appear that this is going to be able to produce as much snow as the clipper we had on thursday morning. we start with radar. we've got this in what we call our snow machine mode. you can see not only is it moving through right now and dropping its snow, but there's also a back edge out to our west. we'll get in just a little bit closer here and give you some of the pinpoint areas and something we can do here and show you the snow rates. these are producing about a half-inch to inch per hour. this is about what we're going to get. we can also isolate where there might be heavier intensity snow. frostburg has picked up about four inches or so of snow. in the light blue area which is mainly north and east of dng, that's -- of d.c., that's where we have a little bit of heavier snow. it might be coming down one inch per hour. but all things said and down, we're looking at this closing out fairly quickly. gary mcgrady standing by with a look at temperatures and we're

-- and where we're standing with the timing of this. >> in typical clipper fashion, this is moving along pretty quickly. i want to show you the regional picture here to give you an idea. we're already beginning to see a shutoff back out -- shutoff back out to the west of us. this clearly shows it. this is really a three-hour time frame and how quickly this has moved on across. there's a little bit of lingering snow to the west, western sections of maryland but that is quickly moving o. down south through the carolinas. this has turned into a little bit of an ice event. they have coatings down there and slippery travel through central sections of north carolina right now. but again all this moving on off to the east and to the northeast. the big problem here this afternoon, temperatures have been very, very cold, and it just dropped on the hour here at national, down to 21 degrees. it's in the teens for gaithersburg and for frederick. it looked like right now the main roads were doing pretty good but i'll tell you what, overnight tonight the temperatures aren't going to warm up much if they bunch at

all. lower teens out in the suburbs. definitely some places especially the secondary roads, the places we most talk about will refreeze very, very hard overnight tonight. it will be slippery out there in places. >> and giving the timing of all this obviously we're going to check on the roads in just a moment. thank you. the snow caused thousands of parents to rearrange plans and make last-minute pickups. many school districts across the region had early dismissal today. fox fitzgerald is in fairfax, virginia. i know the students were thrilled. us parents, we just had to work with it. >> reporter: you improvise in these kinds of situations, shawn, but, you know, a lot of the parents told us frankly they were kind of expecting this. they'd been watching the weather over the last 12 hours. the kids understandably were thrilled by it all. but for those parents, the folks who already headed out to work, there was some rearranging to do after finding out they would have to come

back to school to pick up their kid only a few hours after they had left them there. in montgomery county, maryland, the big train of students cleared out quickly and teachers soon followed suit. >> very happy students. >> reporter: after a relatively quiet winter, many folks said they headed out to work today, expecting that area schools would wind up with a shortened day. >> i'm always waiting for the next one to come around. whenever it gets this cold, you start to wonder. >> reporter: news started to spread just before noon when thanks to text alerts and voice mails, parents wound up getting messages like this. >> schools will close early today, january 25, due to emergency weather conditions. >> reporter: here at the spring hill elementary school in fairfax county, buses lined up early as the effort to get kids home early swung into high gear. area school officials made the call based on the time that the weather was arriving in the

d.c. area, and the desire to have both buses and students off the roads by the time the snow began. parents we talked to said they are not second-guessing. >> i was at home actually. i realized two hours early so i came to pick them up. >> reporter: as the news spread insides the school building, the reactions among students was how do you say receptive. >> you could hear the classes screaming. >> when we were in music class, everyone started screaming and going yay. my teacher was jumping around. >> reporter: the big question moving forward, of course, how to spend the rest of your day and surprisingly homework did not top the list. >> what are we going to do, guys? >> stay home and play. >> reporter: what are you going to play? we don't know. >> reporter: moving forward, though, many kids say they expect they will have a lot of catching up to do next week after having last month off for the king holiday and an early

end to the week, the teachers and their assignments will be waiting when they return. back live now at the elementary school here in fairfax county, you know, as we've been watching this traffic, we've got to tell you the snow has remained pretty constant, like you're seeing right now for about i'd say 40 minutes right now. the traffic has noticeably slowed in speed, though. a lot of people are not taking any chances. i know one of my friends had a relative break a tire out the other day just in that little bit of snow we had the other day so it doesn't take a loot to make the roads -- take a lot to make these roads slippery. all the things people complain about modern live, these text messages are not one of them. each and every parent said those things are a god send when you're out about and you suddenly look down at your phone and say oh, i've got to get my kid out of school. >> i got four of them so thank goodness for all the ways they communicate with us. >> reporter: you have a lot of kids, shawn, so you need it.

>> it's all for the same child. thanks, tom. traffic and getting around a big part of the weather story this evening. if you or your loved ones are hitting the roads any time soon this evening, it is going to be a mess. julie wright with metro traffic is keeping an eye on road conditions. julie, i want to say good morning since we're used to hearing you and seeing you when we get up in the morning. >> reporter: yeah. now you're calling me in the middle of nap time. well, this is what we're finding out here on the capital beltway. north and west of town, definitely a different situation than what we're finding in virginia. what we're noticing here on the beltway is that you're simply following the person in front of you. there is some slush that's been accumulating between the lanes, but that is making it very difficult for you to switch lanes. i'm encouraging you to pick the lane you want to be in and stick with it. the overpasses are extremely slippery. we'll continue as we go through the cameras so we can show you what else is going on on the roads.

a car fire southbound 95 as you approach the capital beltway. two left lanes are blocked. that's very tricky to deal with because not only do we take care of the car fire, then we have the water to take care of the fire and that's goes to ice up when it hits the ground. it will take extra time to clear this up. 295 at 32 where you can hardly see the lanes out there. the roadway very slippery here n. happens to be 117 in gaithersburg. again, some of those secondary roads we're used to having two one lane lanes accessible you available as the plows come through and giving you some traction out on the roads. make sure you have plenty of wiper fluid and try not to pass the trucks. that's a traffic of -- check of traffic. back to you. stay with fox 5 for continuing coverage. sean, over to you-- >> shawn, over to you. we're going to tell but breaking news we're following in southeast d.c. the winter weather may have led to a deadly crash involving an ambulance and another car. we understand it happened this

afternoon on southern avenue and 13th street. fox 5's matt ackland live on the scene now with the very latest. matt? >> reporter: yeah, shawn. just to clarify, it looks like it's at southern and 12th iet around the same -- and 12th, right around the same area you were talking about. somehow the ambulance and car came into contact. there was a collision. might be hard to see but there's another car in front of that, a silver hybrid vehicle it appears. somehow they all came together. details are really limited at this point. we're not sure if that ambulance was on a call, but we do know one person has died and apparently two paramedics inside that ambulance were transported to a local hospital. once again it was slippery when this happened just a couple of

hours ago. it's kind of an incline here. it appears maybe the vehicles were actually coming up southern avenue. traffic around this area definitely tied up for up for. you're going to want to avoid -- tied up for now. you're going to want to avoid the area. again, one person has died and two pair medics have been taken to the hospital. back to you. >> thanks for the update. a d.c. news alert. detectives are searching for answers tonight in the murder of a teenage girl found shot to death on a northwest street. police want you to hear all the details in this one because they need someone to come forward to help catch the killer. bob barnard is in our newsroom following the investigation for us. bob, what do you know? >> reporter: good news. i just got off the phone with d.c. police chief cathy lanier. she tells me there has been an arrest in the case. the person arrested is a man who knew the victim. he is 21-year-old alexander buckley of northwest

washington. they apparently knew each other and in just the last hour or so, he's been brought into custody. here's more of what happened today. she was found shot to death on the sidewalk along 5th street northwest at the corner of nickelson street, a gunshot wound to the head according to sources. it was just after 3:00 a.m. her name was sheban nicole lee, 18, a recent graduate in silver spring, lived with her family in this house in tacoma park. her father and other relatives spoke to us off camera. they said they had no information about her murder and provided us with this recent portrait, police telling us they don't believe she was a random target. >> i can't imagine not hearing a gunshot. >> reporter: 40 feet away from where you are. >> nicky fernandez lives in the house closest to where she was found dead this morning. he says he didn't hear a thing. >> obviously i'm not a

detective. but the bus stops. you can hear the bus. the speaker that says takoma park, next station, you can hear that. people walk around and you can hear people talking but a gunshot? so i'm inclined to think that maybe she was shot somewhere else and dumped here? >> reporter: itself body was found along a busy metro bus route. this intersection is just south of coolidge high school, about two miles from her takoma park home. her friends are taking to twitter to express their grief. one writing, didn't deserve to die. another adding, i can't believe the news either. we had good times in forensics class last school year. yet another expressing a common theme. you'll truly be missed. again just a short time ago, d.c. police chief cathy lanier telling us an arrest in this case has been made. an quain assistance of the victim, -- an acquaintance of the victim.

this case which had been a mystery all day now appears to be solved. >> i imagine police still want tipsters to come forward to help bolster the case. >> reporter: absolutely. because as the man who lived there told us, he didn't hear a gunshot. he doesn't know that she was shot dead right there on the street corner where she was found or maybe somewhere else and dumped there. so obviously looking for witnesses and to put this all together. the victim's father told us he didn't know who she was with last night and where she was coming from or going to. >> bob barnard with the update from chief lanier just a few minutes ago. thank you. we head over to manassas for this next one. a virginia man in custody charged with murdering his 15- month-old son. a medical examiner ruled the child named prince drowned back in october. police arrested the boy's father joaquan rams. the mother fought unsuccessfully unsupervised visitation fearing her son would be in danger. law enforcement discovered the

father had taken out multiple life insurance policies on his son. coming up tonight, a man who went on a violent rampage at a holiday care learns his fate in court. plus, why a judge is throwing out one of the charges against the anne arundel county executive accused of misconduct in office. and thousands of antiabortion demonstrators rallying in washington on the 40th anniversary of roe vs. wade. gary, it is a cold one out there tonight. >> still cold. complicating the problem too with that real cold weather. clipper snow. it's light. it's getting out of here but it's still causing some problems for the commute. we'll have your forecast coming up for the evening hours in just a bit. stay with us. fox 5 news at 5:00 will continue.  at honda,

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introducing the best civic sedan yet. made possible by honda. the judge presiding over the conduct of john leopold dismissed one of the charges against him. he says it's because the state has not met its burden of proof. fox 5's paul wagner has the latest. >> reporter: the judge's decision to throw out count to of the indictment has to do with an allegation john leopold was seen on at least six occasions by his police security detail throwing out the campaign signs of his political rival. the judge said in his view leopold was acting as a private citizen, and it did not rise to malfeasance in office. the day began with defense

attorney passionately arguing his client's case telling judge sweeney over a good part of the morning the common law crimes john leopold is accused of are constitutionally vague. he used a tv vane to make his point telling the judge, the police are the criminal law experts and where was the chief in all of this? several police officers testified under immunity that they complained to the chief of police about leopold's demands, but nothing was done and there was no, as one officer put it, remedy. no one was required to do anything john leopold asked. they could have just said for. he called it trivial nonsense. the bulk of the defense case revolves around john leopold's health, claiming the county executive needed help doing most everything after undergoing back surgery. once the judge ruled for the five counts against leopold would stand, the defense called the county executive's back surgeon to the stand who testified leopold was in

excruise yating pain before the -- excruciating pain before the operation and afterward could not bend over to tie his shoes or put on his socks. any comment about the judge's decision today? >> reporter: the defense will resume its case monday. the defense declined to tip its hand as to who might be called to the stand next monday. it's unclear whether or not john leopold may be called. leopold is still facing three counts of misconduct in office as well as one count of misappropriating funds. in annapolis, paul wagner, fox 5 news. maryland governor martin o'malley announced his -- [indiscernible] he named a bowie state university official and former state lawmaker dare ron swain. the appointment follows court battles over the vacancy caused when austin pleaded guilty to settle two misconduct cases and was automatically suspended from office. she later argued she should get

her seat back because her conviction for misconduct in office was changed to probation before judgment. former c.i.a. officer john keriaki has been sentenced to two years in prison for leaking two covert agents to a journalist. he pleaded guilty last year to violating the protection act. the plea deal required the judge to impose a sentence of two years. he was a veteran agent who helped capture a terrorist but gave interviews regarding water boarding. the supreme court decision legalizing abortion's an anniversary was today. demonstrators marched to the steps of the supreme court. their goal is to get the supreme court to overturn the historic decision in honor of what they call aborption's 5 -- abortion's 55 million victims. turning to our top story, another round of snow for our

region. the timing of this as we look outside at some of the roads there, shawn, is interesting because the last snowfall we had yesterday kind of happened as we were all going to bed or you and i were working. and now it's happening, gary, right in the middle of the commute. >> that's never fun around here. but i've got to say, the guys treating the roads have been excellent. >> they've done a great job. >> there's no need to plow this as long as everything is coated and coated with salt and the other chemicals. it's been good but it doesn't mean it's not going to be a little slippery out there because we're getting to a point where some of the salt doesn't work as effectively. if it's only been treated with salt, it can be a little bit of a problem. temperatures are dropping into the teens. here's radar to give you an idea where the snow is. there's a little heavy patch. we were just looking at this just to the west of the city and actually moving into the western parts of the city. right here. through northern sections of fairfax county, right around great falls toward the river, may be extending up into southern sections of montgomery

county, but that's all kind of been moving on through. you can see the back edge, though, which is really coming our way. a winter weather advisory technically is still in effect. it's going to go till 9:00 tonight generally speaking swre. about half an inch across the area. some places maybe a little bit more than that. real cold overnight tonight but we'll see sunshine for the weekend. full forecast coming up. >> all right, gary. see you then. time for the car wash come tomorrow, maybe. >> there will be long lines. coming up tonight, a nasty norovirus outbreak is spreading across the country. also, fighting the flu. new numbers show activity may have peaked. >> plus, are you down on your luck? why a new study says that could lead to an increase in calories you take in. 

new government numbers show the flu seems to be leveling off. according to the cdc, flu activity is declining in most regions, but it's still rising

in the west. hospital visits and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. and eight more children have died from the flu bringing the total to 37. but keep this in mind. about 100 children die in an average flu season. the flu is not the only bug going arch. the norovirus -- going around. the norovirus is spreading. more than 100 outbreaks have been reported. it's highly contagious and spreads in schools and nursing homes. doctors say there's really no medicine other than riding it out for several days with severe symptoms. a new study shows people eat more during hard ts found t economic times can lead to people eating larger portions than normal. participants were given messages about tough times and they ate 40% more food than those who were given neutral messages. researchers also found messages about tough times made people desire more high calorie foods. >> people turn to that comfort

food. >> absolutely. as fox 5 continues, a man who went on a violent rampage at a holiday care is sentenced as prosecutors release video of the attack. the suspect in the murder of a popular principal learns his fate. well' have reaction from the vehicle -- we'll have reaction from the victim's family. >> how long will this snow last? gary is on the other side of the break with your answer. jww

to our top story tonight, another blast of winter weather. a live look at tysons corner where you can see the snow is sticking to the ground. the paicht a little wet and -- pavement a little wet and cars are moving. let's get right to gary mcgrady in the weather center. what can we expeskt as we continue to -- expect as we continue to move through the evening hours. >> this is a clipper and they notoriously move fast. you can see on radar just the back edge of this.

it's already coming through loudoun county. there's a little bit more up north and west for frederick county, northern loudoun county. we'll watch that but typically that will break up as well as it moves on. you saw from our live picture there along the beltway, western beltway, tysons corner, real light. a couple big flakes too. here of our temperatures. this is what we're concerned about. gaithersburg 18. salt begins to lose some of its effectiveness below 20 degrees so if it's not chemically treated as well, maybe a few slippery spots out there. be careful, especially once itself sun sets. 22 -- the sun sets. 22 degrees at 7:00. light snow only. at 9:00 22 or so. just a few flurries. and those may be mainly just east of town. mostly cloud by 11:00. cold overnight tonight. dare i say, shawn, there is a warm-up coming. there is a warm-up coming. join us for the full forecast. i'll show you when. >> i like the sound of that. thanks, gary. just a reminder you can track the forecast 24/7 with

the fox 5 weather app. you can download it on your droid, iphone or ipad and also find it on our website myfoxdc.com. another big story we're following tonight at 5:00, a maryland man will spend the next two decades behind bars following a violent attack in a prince george's county day care center. today a judge in upper marlboro sentenced this man micquel young -- mickel young to 20 years in prison. >> reporter: there were about 80 kids and about 20 teachers and parents in the big day care center near the morgan boulevard metro stop last april 26. the adults and some of the 4- year-olds may never forget some of the things they saw there that day, and now that the case is over, you get to see video of some of the attack. the assailant mickel young is wearing a dark jacket over a white t-shirt. cea into the family affair day

care center in prince george's county last april seeking to use a telephone. security guard jaylin farmer said no and the assailant takes a couple of swings at him. the security guard gets a baseball bat. the intruder begins throwing things and attacks a woman at the reception desk. the security guard still with the bat retreats down a hallway and mickel young starts pounding on the glass windows and doors of classrooms while panicked teachers begin calling 911. the two men fight violently and the intruder gains control and severely beats the teenage guard who ultimately loses vision in his right eye. mickel young uses the bat in the words of the judge to terrorize everyone in the building. the assailant sister's begged the court for mercy saying her brother's use of drugs was the problem. >> my brother is a good home being. he has two children. he's not a bad person. i love him and my family

supports him in everything that happened. >> reporter: after viewing the security video, the circuit court judge agreed with the prosecution request for a stiff sentence effectively imprisoning mickel young for 20 years plus five years supervised probation with 25 more years of a suspended sentence hanging over him. despite the injuries to his right eye, jaylin farmer is still a security guard at the day care center, although his hopes of ever playing college football or college level basketball appear to be impossible at this point. under maryland law the assailant mickel young will have to serve about ten years in prison before being eligible for consideration for parole. he is 27 years old. will? >> certainly hard to watch that video. john, thank you. 27 years in prison, that's how long a d.c. man will spend behind bars for his role in the death of a d.c. principal. brian betz was shot to death

inside his silver spring home back in april 2010. today a judge sentenced the suspect 15 years behind bars for the robbery and 20 for the use of a handgun. the family says while the past two years have been difficult, they are ready to move on. >> our family got a life sentence when we lost brian. we won't get him back. >> i don't have any hate for him. i want the system to work for him. and i hope it does. that's all that we can hope for. >> a foundation has been set up in brian betts' honor. it benefits students and faculty members who want to improve their education or their careers. a road trip for the jury in the murder trial of a former culpeper, virginia police officer. sky fox overhead this morning as members of the jury got a firsthand look at the crime scene. officer daniel harmon-wright is accused of shooting a woman to death last year as she sat in her car in this culpeper

parking lot. prosecutors say the shooting was unjustified and that he used excessive force. the defense arks the woman didn't comply -- argues the woman didn't comply with the officer even after he warned he would shoot if necessary. coming up tonight, there could be sweeping changes when it comes to school athletics. find out who says students with disabilities should be given a fair shot. should high school students be forced to take a government class to graduate? why that requirement could soon become a thing of the past in d.c. d.c.

a landmark decision for disabled student athletes across the country. the u.s. education department has passed an order saying schools must provide sports teams to accommodate the students. under the order schools can either create new leagues for disabled students or make specific modifications to current teams if needed. >> the key to the ruling is that schools are required to conduct an individualized assessment of every student who's requesting accommodations.

so no longer can we blanketly deny a student the right to participate. they need to look at the individual circumstances of that student and the requested modification that they're asking for. >> merchandise midis already in line with the ruling passing a similar law back in 2008. d.c.'s boards of education is now -- board of education is now considering allowing high school students to graduate without taking an advanced course requirement. it adds allowances for team sports and musical performances but removes the u.s. government course requirement. currently d.c. public schools require high school students to complete at least four social studies courses to graduate. ten men graduated today from a special program through d.c.'s superior court. fathers are given help to find jobs and rejoin society. the program is completely voluntary. >> it's a wonderful

collaboration with the city and the court, with child support services division. we've got really just a wonderful history with this program. >> this is the fourth class to graduate. congratulations. they are called the american idol nine. coming up, why former contestants are accusing the show of racism. and an ad campaign to get tourists interested in the nationals is making some people do a double take. >> gary's back with the latest on this blast of winter weather. fox 5 news at 5:00 is coming right back.

of course tourists throbbinged to d.c. from around the world, but this is considered kind of the slow time for tourism. now there's a new ad campaign designed to remind people just how much fun d.c. can be. as fox 5's beth parker shows

us, these ads are raising just a few eyebrows. >> what kind of ad is this? >> very inappropriate. >> this is a joke. >> what are they selling? >> reporter: what they're selling is d.c. but not the d.c. that is this and this and this. this is a sassy new ad campaign from destination d.c., the folks who bring tourists to town. there's one ad that's a man and a woman, another targeted to the gay and lesbian community. the slogan? get a room. >> that's tourism. >> looks more like sex to me but maybe i'm wrong. >> reporter: it's called date night d.c. the message? visit d.c. and bring your sweetheart. >> the goal of the campaign is really economic development for washington, d.c. >> reporter: you see february is slow around here. in this partnership with living social, destination d.c. is mostly targeting folks who live between philadelphia and richmond, but they don't mind sending the message worldwide. >> a large portion of the

global audience does not perceive d.c. as a gram rouse destination -- glamorous destination. >> reporter: you have the warner theater on one side and the national theater right over here and that illustrates something else the destination d.c. folks like to point out. washington has more theater seats than any other city in the country except new york. >> people have perceptions of our destination that don't necessarily match up with the reality of d.c. as a destination. and we continue to change in such a positive way about every few years. it's like we're almost reinventing ourselves. >> reporter: but not everybody is convinced. >> a little racy for my taste. but i think it might get people to come to d.c. >> it's interesting. >> reporter: do you think it's going to make people come here? >> no. >> no. >> good luck with that. >> reporter: you think we're a little too stuffy? >> i don't think that we're too stuffy but i think people think we are. >> i love d.c.

>> it's an intellectual capital. >> reporter: they say d.c. has a reputation for being too stuffy. >> not anymore. >> reporter: in washington, beth parker, fox 5 news. >> i love her laugh. let's talk about -- get back to the snow. you said it's coming to an end. will we see more later or what? >> not really. it's really breaking up right now, just looking over your shoulder at the radar. it amazing me -- it amazes me around here once snow decides to get out of here, that's exactly what it's doing right now. the clippers just clip right along, go through and get out of here. that's what we're seeing. unfortunately this came in early afternoon and stuck around for the commute. it has not been a bad situation out there. most of the roads have been treated nicely. just be real careful on the secondary streets. here's radar. we've been watching this now for -- well, during the last hour. us here in the weather center all afternoon. but just a little bit lingering across the city right now.

and then more to the west and to the northwest. watch how it's moving along. still a few flakes for frederick. northern sections of montgomery county probably coming across gaithersburg, germantown, places like damascus and right along 70 there for northern parts of how water county, too. and really all over the west, it's very, very light. anything that's of consequence right now looks like northwest -- pardon me, northeast up towards i-95. that's no doubt slowing down the commute along i-95. then you jump the bay. what we're showing you i should mention is just the heaviest snow within the snow that's left. and then across over toward easton and out towards the show. the pink indicates moderate snowfall falling. just a little bit left out there. i think over the next hour or so, most of this is gone. this is the forecast for the evening. and as the clipper continues to move on out of here, 7:00 some light snow. most of that will probably be reduced to just some flurries. i think there could be a few

flurries hanging on by 9:00, but that will be probably east of town, because again this is moving out pretty quick. mostly clouds by 11:00. 22. very cold out there right now. again, salt works down to about 20 degrees. then colder than 20 degrees. we really have to rely on the chemicals. if you're running across some places that have only been treated with salt, it may be slippery, especially when the sun's setting and it gets real good and dark. 23 in manassas right now. 19 frederick. 18 gaithersburg. good news, though. the warm-up we've been talking about is still on the way. that's going to start coming in after the weekend. we're still going to be cold this weekend with the orientation of the jet stream still allowing the cold epps of the air to come down -- coldest of the air to come down from the northeast and right into the atlantic. but as we progress monday, tuesday, into wednesday, some mild air will be coming in. it looks like, though, with this mild air coming in, there's also going to be a chance for some rain.

it looks like pretty much monday, tuesday, and wednesday and maybe lingering into thursday as well. even though the temperatures are warming up, it doesn't look like it's going to be real nice next week. not bad. certainly not cold but we'll have rain out there. here's the weekend forecast. 33 tomorrow. we should just get above freezing. not much above freezing but just above freezing. 35. so a little warmer on sunday. i think tomorrow it will be a little bit breezy so it's going to be colder than 33 or at least it will feel colder than 33. watch out for that. on sunday we'll have clouds coming in late in the afternoon. that's when we might lose some sunshine by 4:00, 5:00, just before the sun sets. here's the clipper moving on across. you can see we've had steady snow across the area for the last several hours. ice down here through north carolina but the clouds are beginning to break up back to the northwest. northwest. slippery spots, 21 degrees overnight tonight. low teens out in the suburbs.

winds will be west at 5 to 10 miles per hour. tomorrow morning watch out for the slick spots and secondary roads. if you're out early, it will be breezy through the day tomorrow. i don't think we'd call it windy. i think we'll be up around 15. maybe a few gusts will touch 20 miles per hour or so. 33 tomorrow. 35 on sunday. then we start a little warm-up. a few showers. we have to watch monday morning for maybe a little slippery spots. there's 28 for a low. and then we'll get close to 60 on tuesday and wednesday. not a rainout but each day i think we'll at least have a chance for a few showers around. mainly rain, too, because temperatures will be too warm to support snow. so bye-bye to the real cold stuff. next week late more cold air comes down but it shouldn't be quite this cold. >> okay. let's hope not. thanks, gary. now to the talk of the town on tmz. american idol accused of racism. harvey levin joins us from l.a. nine former idol contestants are planning to sue the show. what is their issue?

>> well, i think this is ridiculous, but the nine of them say, look, they are all black, and they are saying that for various reasons they were booted from the competition. in some cases they lied and didn't disclose they had been arrested but they're saying that white people were not treated similarly on the show, and they believe the show is racist. so they fired with the federal equal employment opportunities commission which they have to do before filing a lawsuit and we're told they intend to file a lawsuit. that said, my point is, number one, if they're racist, how did fantasia win? how did jordin sparks win for starters. they're arguing that some of these questions couldn't be asked because they were employees of american idol. and in california, an employer can't ask an employee about an arrest record. how are you an employee of american idol if you're competing on the show? it doesn't make sense to me. >> any response from american

idol? >> they're saying it's absurd. they're saying it's absurd. >> speaking of absurd, let's talk a little bit about kim kardashian refusing to pay her husband chris humphries. that's absurd. how much does he want, harvey? >> well, we know he asked for $7 million a couple months back. actually more than a couple of months because this has been dragging on for more than a year. not only is kim not going to pay a penny and she's never offered him a penny, contrary to some reports out there, she's never offered him one cent, she now wants him to pay her attorneys' fees which are approaching a quarter of a million dollars because she's saying he has needlessly dragged this divorce out for more than a year and she shouldn't have to pay this money. if this case does go to trial which it well could because it doesn't look like they will settle, my guess is the judge will make him pay the lawyers'

fees. >> drama always. have a great weekend. see now tmz on tv here at 6:30. >> looks like that one is going to get ugly. let's head over to brian bolter now for a look at what's coming your way next at 6:00. did the president abuse his power? just ahead on the news edge, the white house's battle with a federal appeals court. >> plus, it appears the mighty apple may have fallen from the top spot in the tech world. >> and the extreme cold with some amazing pictures from around the world. plus, a look ahead at our weather. that's ahead at 6:00. hang tight. i got it when we could download an hd movie in like two minutes.

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we are learning more about the philadelphia exterminator charged with killing a pediatrician this week. jason smith is charged with tying up the doctor in her basement, strangling her and

setting her body on fire. investigators say smith came to her house on a house call to get rid of row dents. he later -- rodents. he later confessed to killing her because she bossed her around. casey anthony was acquitted of killing her daughter back in 2011. the murder trial made headlines nationwide and today she made a rear appearance in a florida courtroom where she's facing four lying convictions a. small victory for her. two of the charges were thrown out. anthony is not totally out of the clear with her legal matters. she's also facing a defamation lawsuit. a mistrial in a defamation case involving a former teacher and cincinnati bengals n.f.l. cheerleader who admitted to having sex with a teenager she once taught. sarah jones sued the dirty.com gossip website for $11 million. back in 2009 the site basically said jones had sexual encounters with every player on the bengals team and that she had sexually transmitted diseases. a jury couldn't reach a verdict so the judge declared a

mistrial. thanks so much for joining us tonight at 5:00. >> the news edge at 6:00 starts right now. round two of this blast of winter weather in the d.c. area. the snow has been falling since late this afternoon, about 2:30, 3:00. the first flurries fell just before rush causing just enough of accumulation to have drivers cautious out on the roads as they should be. pedestrians and bikers also urged to be aware of their surroundings. most school districts closed early to keep buses off the roads and kids safe. what's ahead for the rest of the night? sue palka live in northwest right now with a look at whether this is going to wrap up. >> reporter: it's night and day from one hour ago. it was snowing intensely when i was out here at 5:00. now we're down to the finest flurries. almost hard to detect them. wanted to show you how soft this snow is. it's similar to what we had the other day. you can literally blow it away like it's fairy dust. but it did come just